My pain is your pain
by mentalistacathix
Summary: Soul mate AU. Cuddy shares House's pain because of the special bond of their souls.


_Hello! I don't know if this kind of story already exists in this fandom (I've read a lot but certainly not every story), I don't wanna step on anyone's toes, so tell me if this has been done! I'm late to the Huddy party having just watched every season (in 2019. Unbelievable.)_

_In my mind this starts in season 1._

* * *

Once again this week, Cuddy erased her browser history and closed her laptop in disappointment. Still no answer. Tired, she leaned back against her sofa and closed her eyes. She did not know how long she could stay idle.

Glancing at the clock, she cursed and quickly went to her bathroom and got ready for a probably long working day. She routinely took off her fentanyl patch and pasted a new one. By now she knew all the places she could wear her patches well hidden from views.

Fortunately, her thigh did not hurt much today. She figured House would be bearable today and she could probably bring him to do a couple of clinic hours today. That pleased her a lot and she hurried a little more to get to work.

Cuddy left her home and drove to the hospital. The morning was the best time to get some work done, knowing that the pain in her leg would increase over the day, and today she was particularly busy.

Her secret research had taken several hours of her time - with a modest result.

Maybe I'm going crazy, Cuddy thought bitterly.

As expected, House made little problems today. However, after she had not seen him over the weekend, the long-standing desire for his presence grew steadily and before she was getting the famous distance-headache (that how she called in lack of a better fitting term), she took the elevator to the fourth floor.

House was sitting at his desk, reading some papers. She entered his office with a smile on her face.

House looked up and raised his eyebrows.

"Did you miss me?" He asked loudly.

"I could use you in the clinic," she said firmly. As always, when she was near him, the dull throbbing in her right thigh diminished considerably.

House leaned back and yawned. "I think I should have my lunch break soon. No time for clinic."

"Four hours, House." She smiled knowingly that he would cave today and walked out of his office with an extra swing on her hip.

She wasn't surprised when she saw him limping into the elevator.

"Today is your lucky day," House said. Cuddy raised her eyebrows. "Oh yes?"

"Instead of 4 I'm doing 2 hours clinic today."

"My luck must have been used up."

"That's bad luck." House quickly poured 2 Vicodin into his hand.

The elevator came down and the two walked out together.

I only notice a fraction of his pain, Cuddy thought as he threw the pills in his mouth and swallowed dry.

To Cuddy's surprise, he even went straight to the clinic. Satisfied Cuddy dedicated her time to her paperwork. Her leg began to hurt more, getting to the limit of her normal pain threshold. She took a paracetamol, updated her incoming emails and then paused in surprise. She got her long awaited answer.

Quickly she went to her bathroom and closed the door. Her pulse raced as she opened the email on her phone.

Dear Dr. Cuddy

I am so sorry that I am only answering you now. Unfortunately, my workload is very high and most of my requests are unfortunately not serious. As you have probably heard, soul partnership is a sensitive topic and is not well researched. I am trying to give you my assessment of your situation.

But your "symptoms" or what I call the "nodes" all fit. Most soulmates share their pain in a psychic nature. This manifests itself as a headache or heartache. A physical pain to compensate the psychical pain.

Rarely soul mates are sharing the physical pain. The souls are very close here to feel the pain symptoms of the human body. If your partner, if I understand you correctly, suffers from chronic pain, your soul tries to give him a relief, in which you feel the same kind of pain. Unfortunately, I got only a few such cases, often such phenomenon is only recognized in old age.

I have already written a book about soul mates, I suggest you read it.

I will certainly get in touch with you as soon as my other commitments will allow it.

I hope you appreciate having found your soulmate.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Richard Paulsen

Soul mates. Cuddy had not thought that soul mates really extist. In her entire studies and apprenticeship as a doctor, no one ever told anything about it.

She did not really feel different after the long-awaited email confirmed what she already knew. Dr. Gregory House was her soulmate.

Cuddy had always been attracted to him. First he was a sexual adventure, then a career opportunity and always a challenge. Through him, she has become more successful, even if some of her colleagues would rather see him as a hurdle. She loved playing with him and despite constant arguments and a lot of discussions, she could never let him go out of her life. She would always consider him a friend.

And then came the day of his infarction.

At first she had been sick. But after the day of his operation, she noticed a constant pain in her leg. In the right thigh. She could not walk on her high heels for a few days, but could still put it off a sprain. Several doctors were unable to determine what was wrong with her and she was prescribed patches for the chronic pain. The problem of the leg pain was under control. She realized that she had good days and bad days, and she learned that it correlated significantly with House's mood.

She had discoverd Dr. Paulsen years later on the Internet. He studied empathy and soul-partnership in London, and since she was desperate enough to consider believing in empathic pain, half a year earlier, Cuddy had asked him for an accurate assessment of her situation.

Of course, Cuddy had already read his book. And it fit everything. Therefore, she realized that if she has not seen House for too long (she managed to do it for about 4 days), she could not concentrate anymore.

Often House then stormed into her office with an claim, or she went to see him and send him to the clinic. Before, that had only seemed to her part of her job. Now it was like a kind of addiction. She first thought that she was just a bit in love with him. But after he was shot, she knew it was so much more. Cuddy did not really want to think about it. Her many failed dates still spoke for themselves.

She often wondered what House would say about her situation. He certainly didn't believe in soul mates, her thigh pain would not be believable to him. Who would? It sounded not even plausible to her.

She did not mind sharing his pain. She was just sick of handling it alone. She wanted to talk about it, give in to the feeling of spending every second of the day with him.

And then there were days when she thought he knew exactly about her patches. Or the days when she could not leave the office because of pain. She would alway be to chicken to talk to him about it but it did get her hopes up that one day he will acknowledge it and they'll have their happy ever after. Cuddy laughed out loud. This will never happen. She would only push him away with that kind of commitment.

Cuddy left the bathroom and took a sip of water. Her pulse was still racing a bit and she sat down on her sofa.

Suddenly her office door opened and House came in.

Cuddy sensed that her gaze must be different than usual, as House sat down next to her.

"Even 2 hours do not pass so fast," she said, but without reproach. She saw him massaging his leg and taking a vicodin.

Her leg hurt more so it had to be his leg too, she concluded.

House leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Usually you avoid me," Cuddy began, completely ignoring her own pain. Hopefully she reduced his pain while he's here with her, she thought.

"Change of strategy."

"Annoy me until I wish you farther away than Stock 4?"

"We could make out?" House's blue eyes opened and glared at her conspiratorially. Inwardly, her butterflies circled wildly but as practiced she remained outwardly cool.

Cuddy grinned. "Maybe after you got more work done."

House played casually with his cane until he got up.

"Here's my number. My silence in exchange for the rest of the clinic hours."

Cuddy started to protest, but House pulled a crumpled handkerchief from his pocket and squeezed it into her hand. As always when they had contact, a warm feeling spread inside of her. He glanced away and limped out of the office.

Annoyed that he left her with garbage, she reluctantly got up and tried to throw it in the trash when she saw alarmed that a plaster had been wrapped in it. She swallowed hard and checked that her own was still in place. It no longer stuck to her skin.


End file.
